Abbott demanding delay on appointing G-G

Tony Abbott is believed to want to appoint retired general Peter Cosgrove as governor-general should the Coalition win the election
Photo: Andrew Meares

by
Phillip Coorey | Chief political correspondent

The federal government is not ruling out appointing a new governor-general before the election, while Opposition Leader
Tony Abbott
, who favours the appointment of retired general
Peter Cosgrove
, is demanding the Prime ­Minister hold off until afterwards.

Mr Abbott, suspicious that
Julia ­Gillard
wants to name retired defence force chief
Angus Houston
as the successor to
Quentin Bryce
, said on the weekend the Prime Minister had no right to make decisions that took effect after the September 14 election because they were “legitimately the province of a potential successor’’.

He based his assertion on other appointments made in recent weeks, such as the reappointment of the Australian Electoral Commissioner, Ed ­Killesteyn, whose five-year term was due to expire in January 2014. The government also reappointed Reserve Bank governor
Glenn Stevens
for another three years, starting on September 17, and it announced
Wayne Byres
as the next Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman, a ­position that would not start until July next year.

“The announcement of appointments expressed to take effect almost nine months into the term of the next Parliament and some 15 months before they become operative is a blatant abuse of power,’’ Mr Abbott said in a ­letter to Ms Gillard.

Gillard undecided on appointment date

In October last year, Ms Gillard extended the term of Ms Bryce until March 2014. She was sworn in on ­September 5, 2008 and her conventional five-year term was due to expire in September this year.

Sources close to Ms Gillard say the extension was not granted so as to gift the choice of the next governor-general to whoever won the election.

Instead it was only granted to avoid a messy situation of the governor-general’s term expiring at the same time as a federal election.

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It was stressed that Ms Gillard has made no decision yet and is neither ruling in or out making a new appointment before the election.

Mr Abbott is believed to want to appoint General Cosgrove should the Coalition win the election. The government claims he wants to appoint former prime minister
John Howard
.

A spokesman for the former PM said Mr Howard was not interested, and Mr Abbott rejected the claim.

“I have enormous respect for John Howard but he served almost 12 years in a very difficult and demanding job and I think he’s really enjoying his retirement," Mr Abbott said.

“I’m on the record as saying I think former military personnel and former judges by and large make the best vice- regal appointments."

Long gaps between announcement and commencement

In recent decades, there have been long gaps between the announcement of a governor-general and that person’s term beginning. But none has been announced one side of an election and their term commenced after that election.

In July 1977,
Zelman Cowen
was announced as governor-general and his term began almost five months later, just two days before the federal election that year. In August 1995, the Keating government chose
William Deane
. His term started almost six months later and just three weeks before the federal election which led to Mr Howard taking power.

Mr Howard appointed
Peter Hollingworth
in April 2001 and his term began in June that year, just five months before the federal election.

The longest period between an announcement and a term commencing concerned
Ninian Stephen
, who was announced in January 1982 and began his term six months and 16 days later at the end of July that year.

If Ms Gillard were to announce a successor to Ms Bryce before the election, the time elapsed before that person’s term commenced would be longer than any before.